Life After
by Thomas Lecter
Summary: A reboot on a classic cliche- a coming of age story for the little warrior who's past what not what was suppose to be, and an uncertain future absent peace or stability. Kidnapping, amnesia, internal struggle, the works. Come in and enjoy.


Hello fan fiction fanatics! Long time reader, first time poster (sort of). This story is 50% fun, 50% giving me something to do. I'm a fan of the tried and true (some might call cliche) stories, and getting to see how each author interprets and executes them. So for my first story I give you the classic "Gohan is kidnapped, forces into Frieza's evil clutches and must find his family and come to grips with his past". Read it before? Who hasn't, but its still a ball of fun! Hope you enjoy my story, and if not, hope you find another one you do.

Like any author I'm greedy for reviews, so review away!

An uneasy sensation fell over the boy. The air, tense with electricity and dropping pressure, stirred him back towards consciousness. The limp body was loosely draped in a blue under- armour suit, sporting multiple tears and stains on the fabric. No superficial wounds remained on the child's pale skin, but a few larger gashes peeked through the exposed under-armour.

A deafening boom and planet wide rattle jarred him awake. The room was loud with the violent clashing of metals and shattering glass. His body bobbed back and forth in the regeneration tank fluid, being thrust against the encasing glass in rhyme with the planets death rattle. '_Planet's about to implode_', he reasoned.

A cloud of air bubbles tickled against his bruised cheek as he cracked open his eyes. Sporadic shadows licked at the skeletal heap of twisted metal and toppled equipment between flickers of erratic lighting. His brow furred questioningly, sensing no other occupants on board the ship.

Casting a wider net, his senses locked on two enormous powers south west of him. Disoriented, it was difficult to recognize who these enormous power levels belonged to, and more importantly what their motivations were. Best Gohan could reason, someone had gone for broke. Soon the planet would be an unmarked smear of dust and rubble across space. The planet had three, maybe four minutes max.

Gohan pressed his palm flush with the glass, feeling energy tingle at his finger tips. His exhausted mind tugged at him to stay at rest, but his warrior instinct's _need _to fight for survival could not be dismissed. Glass crackled and shattered, fluid and occupant spilling out onto the medical facility's tiled floor. Gohan braced himself onto the blanket of glass, shards imbedding into his flesh. Ripping off the oxygen mask, he greedily sucked in the cold, damp air. A veil of black hair hung wet and limp along his shoulders and chest, sticking to the thin coat of residual regenerative fluid. 

Whatever good the tank had done on his body was unravelling. Gritted his teeth against the searing pain that weaved through his tail and up his spinal column, the young warrior rose on shaky feet. His tail rested uselessly at an unnatural angle against his thigh, swollen and misshapen. Shuffling on bare feet to the right, then too far left, Gohan desperately tried to adapt his balance to remain upright and more or less walking straight. In a tedious, and undignified stride, he pressed on. Latching onto the exit door ledge was a small victory. A fresh wave of earthquakes assaulted the ship, pressuring Gohan to come up with some fragment of a plan. Just what had gone down while he was knocked out?

Of the two previously enormous power levels, one was was plummeting fast. A particular power signature snagged his attention. In a less desperate scenario, the shock would have knocked him clear onto his ass. Cracked lips traced out the name..._Lord_ _Frieza. _A ruthless powerhouse of the galactic elite, respected through fear and reputation by billions across the charted universe. Gohan's knuckles blanched white, stretched taught in a fitted grip. This was simply unreal. His master was... Gohan's senses snapped into hyper focus as that plummeting power signature simply blipped out of existence. '_Could that monster have truly been destroyed?' _he questioned internally. He couldn't yet hope this to be true. 

The quaking earth snapped his mind back into focus. Survival time was now, emotions could wait. Gohan nimbly stepped between the charred carcasses of several crew members, tediously making his way to the ships docking quarters. The hallways were singed and blackened, leading down to a mangled puncture in the ships skeleton. Truly he had been at deaths door to have remained unconscious throughout all this destruction. It was miraculous indeed that the medical facility he'd been occupying had remained operational until now.

No answers, only further questions would be found in this metal graveyard. The planet could not be expected to hold out much longer. Piloting this mangled ship was out of the question, an escape pod would be his only chance for survival. With a heavy, relieved sigh he found two perfectly untouched pods available for deploy.

An incoming power level snagged his focus. That monstrous power level, what or whoever it was that killed Lord Frieza, was bee lining to his position. He had to move fast. Biting cheek he pushed hard against the stabbing pain and launched his body against the pods metallic shell. "Come on, come on", Gohan chanted as shaky fingers fumbled the hatch open. Resting within the pod, Gohan knitted his eyes closed in concentration. That power level was coming in fast. The launch would have to be timed perfectly, otherwise he'd be as good as target practice for the approaching warrior. Gohan's hand hovered over the launch pad, hesitating as the unknown warrior touched down inside the ship. "Now!" fingers mashed against the keys and a violent upwards pressure sent the pod blasting into space.

Leaving Namek's atmosphere behind, the young warrior settled back into the pod's plush padding. Normally cramped quarters for adults and larger species, his small frame had plenty of room to negotiate a more comfortable position. A broken tail can make ordinary sitting quit difficult. The little one yawned despite himself. He hadn't much time to input a preferred destination, and in all honestly there was no where he belonged to now that Frieza had evidently perished. Where would he go from here? He couldn't answer that. 

Tired eyes glanced out the viewing portal. Nemek's cracking and smoking facade was filtered red by the viewing pane. Though exhausted, Gohan's eyes remained transfixed on the steadily shrinking planet. Before the planet was but a speck in the distance, the planet shone bright like a star before snuffing out of existence. The pod's computer began chirping out destination coordinates and estimated time of arrival. Ah, it seemed the pod was on return coordinates from its previous location before Namek. Where this would land him, his foggy mind could not reason. Did it really matter? For the time no, it didn't. A cool mist dispersed within the pod, a sedative used to put the occupant in a coma like state, there by allowing for long journeys with minimal air and nutritional consumption. He welcomed the artificially induced rest. For now, all he wished for was a few hours absent of regret, fear or pain.

Chapter one complete. Expect some clarifying history in the next chapter. Hopefully the approaching warrior who defeated Frieza was obvious enough. I'm not a fan of fan fictions that require too much clarification in the authors notes for the story to make sense, but I wanted to clear one thing up before its mentioned in any review. The healing tank Gohan was utilizing is in a separate area of this ship than the one Goku and Vegeta utilized on the ship. Likely this will be addressed in future chapters why this is appropriate (other than as a plot devise).

Keeping the DBZ spirit alive and thriving.


End file.
